My movie is premiering in LA!! =)

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:30pm

Hi, guys -

So, yep, I'm in a movie. I am starring as "Jula Diva" in a new indie feature film called A Couple of Days and Nights. My band Velvet Chain's music is also used extensively in the movie, which also features tracks by 70's and 80's supergroup, Heart.

The movie stars me, David Lago (7th Heaven, the Young and the Restless - Emmy Winner), Shonda Farr (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jack & Bobby), Allison Munn (What I Like About You, Elizabethtown), Joseph Peracchio (Smack, Into the West), KW Miller (Wicked - nat'l tour) and Deirdre O'Connell (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).

There are a lot of theater-people involved in this film:

Allison Munn starred as "Luisa" in The Fantasticks at New York's Sullivan Street Theatre for more than 500 performances as well as performing in The Wild Party at the prestigious Manhattan Theatre Club.

KW Miller is currently on the national tour of Wicked.

Joe Peracchio is the founder and artistic director of the Tricklock Theatre Company in Albuquerque, NM, whose current original production, The Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid-The Greatest Serial Killer of Our Time! A Wild West Show and Cabaret, has been touring the world to rave reviews.

Dierdre O'Connell has appeared on Broadway in The Front Page and Salome, as well as many Off-Broadway productions.

I make my living primarily from my work as an Equity actor here in LA. (I just finished a 3-month run as "Dorothy Brock" in 42nd Street at the Welk Resort Theatre in San Diego.)

The film will have its world-premiere at the Hollywood Film Festival (at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood) on October 22 at 4pm. =) More specifics on the festival to come, but here's the movie info:

A COUPLE OF DAYS AND NIGHTS

A love story brimming with comic irony as values clash over creativity, integrity and fame.

Jula Erika Amato) is a sultry lead singer searching the crowd for two things; a boyfriend with a "Greek-Roman Profile", and anybody with "full-on signing power". Micah (David Lago) is a wannabe in love with BMW's, pink martinis, the fairer sex and the dream of being the next single-name success story. Scott (Joe Peracchio) is a trust fund baby whose inner voice is constipated from the constant pressure of an over-bearing family business. And at the heart of this pandemonium is Rhonda (Shonda Farr), the freak out of water trying to document it and follow her dreams in the face of all obstacles, especially herself.

These four artists are swimming in their desires to be understood, accepted and loved...but drowning in the overwhelming pressures of selling out in the highly commercial world of LA. A world where they learn that dreams can drive you, desire can destroy you, but love can find you in A Couple of Days and Nights.

Hope to see you at the premiere!

~Erika




A Couple Of Days And Nights Movie Trailer Updated On: 9/25/05 at 06:30 PM

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:33pm

P.S. I tried to post this in the "off-topic" board at first, but it wouldn't let me. (Every time I tried to submit, it kept going to a page that said "this page does not exist.") So, I'm sorry if this post is slightly off-topic...but like I said above, there are so many theater actors in the movie, I thought maybe it'd be OK. =)
Updated On: 9/20/05 at 06:33 PM

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:35pm

that sounds really cool! congrats!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:47pm

Thanks so much, Cathy! =) I've got to get my act together and get some postacrds made and send them to agents and directors, etc., you know? Promote, promote, promote! :-P

[Popular]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:48pm

congrats! Good luck with it!

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:52pm

Congratulations, Erika - and we'll try to get to see it!

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 6:52pm

Congrats! That's awsome!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 7:03pm

Thanks, Popular, DGrant, and Ebonic_Singer! =)

DGrant: It would be so awesome if you could come to the premiere! It'll be at the Arclight, at 4pm on Saturday, Oct. 22nd. I don't know what the ticket prices are yet, but I'm guesing they're in the $10 range.

I'll post about it once I know... I know you'll be able to purchase tickets online through the Arclight, so that's cool.

The theater we're screening in seats 280 people, so we definitely want to sell it out!

Anyway, thanks so much for the good wishes, everybody!

~E

Posted: 9/22/05 at 10:58am

Aw Erika,

I went to the Web site for your film and had to give up on it after about five seconds...are all the cast bios and such supposed to be squeezed all up against the left hand side of the screen like that? They're so hard to read, and it's hard to see everyone's picture! Fire your Web designer at once!!

I live here in L.A. and you have definitely piqued my interest. Maybe I will come to your premiere if I can!

[cabaretlulu2]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 11:17am

That's so cool. I have actually already heard about this movie because Joe Peracchio taught drama at my school last year and my brother completed a program at tricklock.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 3:49pm

TruthLasso: Man, that totally sucks! It's funny, we actually had a meeting last night about the movie, and I volunteered to upgrade the site, 'cause although it looks fine on my computer (and everyone else's I spoken to so far), it's kind of boring, so I was going to try and make it look a little nicer. Of course, I have to wait to get the old site from the guy who put it up in the first place, so I can start fixing it from there... Anyway, I hope to get that done within a week or so. (And it's an even higher priority now that I know it looks weird to on some computers.)

May I ask what browser you use?

In the mean-time, you can go to the URL below to view the trailer. I know it works. (Just be patient if it takes a little while to load.) At least you'll get a good idea about the movie. =)

cabaretlulu2 How cool! I just saw Joe last night, and I'll be seeing him again this evening, actually...if you want to PM me your name, or what school you went to, I'll be sure to tell him hi for you!
MOVIE TRAILER

[keggss23]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 4:04pm

I saw you in 42nd Street at Lawrence Welk. You were fantastic! I love, love, love your voice!!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 4:27pm

keggss23: Why, thank you! *blush* I'm very flattered. =)

If you're not busy that Saturday (10/22 at 4pm), you should come up to LA and come to the premiere screening... We're going to have a nice little reception after the screening right there at the Arclight. It'd be great to meet you!

~E

[keggss23]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 4:53pm

That would be great! I'll put it on my calendar =)

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 5:03pm

Congratulations! Best of Luck at the Premiere!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 5:06pm

Mazel Tov!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 5:32pm

Thanks so much, RockabyeHamlet and BSoBW2! =)

keggss23: Please do. Tickets will be available online at the Arclight website, but I'll post again about that as it gets closer. (And they're not available yet, anyway.) :-P

[perfectliar]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 5:36pm

I absolutely LOVE Shonda Farr... if I was anywhere near LA, I'd be there in a second.

Best of luck though!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/22/05 at 6:04pm

perfectliar: She's a sweetheart...just for you, here are a couple of stills of her and me from the movie. =)

And thanks for the good wishes!

~Erika

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/23/05 at 1:37pm

So, I just went to the press screening of Cameron Crowe's new movie Elizabethtown with almost the entire cast and crew of my movie (A Couple of Days and Nights) last night. It was fun. I was bummed Cameron wasn't there (I still haven't met him), but the movie was enjoyable, and the theater at Paramount Studios was just gorgeous. And it was free, so yay. =)

In case I didn't mention the connection before, Cameron is married to Nancy Wilson of Heart, who is friends with our director, Vaughn Verdi, and contibuted a couple of songs to our movie's soundtrack. (6 degrees of separation, right? lol)

Anyway, we're hoping they're both coming to our screening. They said they would, but who knows...

~Erika

Posted: 9/23/05 at 8:13pm

Erika,

I use Mozilla Firefox for most of my Web surfing needs...but I sometimes find myself switching among IE and Netscape when I get a Web site that doesn't seem to work with Firefox.

Send me a PM if you need any help with the Web site. I am a professional Web designer...went to school for it and everything. I'm even running a special offer right now that you'd definitely be eligible for, so if you'd rather pass the site off to a pro so you can do other things, now would be the time to do that. Again, PM me if you want to talk about it!

[dotmarie]

Posted: 9/23/05 at 8:17pm

Hi Erika! Congratulations!! I can't wait to see the movie, it looks fabulous. =)

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/23/05 at 8:38pm

TruthLasso: Will do... We're trying to do it for free, since the producers are running out of money, so that's why I volunteered. But if it gets to be too much (which it well may), I will definitely be asking for help, even if I have to pay our of my own pocket. hehehe :-P Thanks for the offer!
dotmarie: Thanks so much! It'll be great to finally meet so many of the people whose posts I've been reading for the past year or so!

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 9/23/05 at 8:51pm

I will definately go see this when I have the chance. It looks like a wonderful film. So proud of you!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/24/05 at 12:18am

Thanks, Eponine! Are you in the LA area? I'd love for you to be able to come to the screening!